Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Let It Snow! :)

First things first- This morning, I woke up to SNOW!!!! My first snowfall of the mission. Haha, it was pretty fun. Not sure how much I'll love it come January, but right now- it's great. What's Christmas without snow right? Second off, transfers are this week! AHHH! Craziness. Sister Lund will be going home, and I will be staying in 1st ward again. Ha I'm so stoked! Just won't know who my new comp is until tonight... drum roll please.....

Well- this week was pretty awesome, I must say. No, we didn't contact 500 people or baptize the nation, but spiritually, it was just really awesome.

The Lord blessed us with a new investigator the other day, and she's amazing! I've never met someone who is so open to the gospel and so willing to change her will to God. What a great example she is to me. She has 4 precious little kids, who I just adore. Sometimes I wish I could just hold them because they are so stinkin' cute. Right now, her and her boyfriend are actually living in a motel until they can find a good house for their family. I think she was kind of embarrassed to have us come over, but then I told her not to worry because I could relate. I thought about how when all of our family moved to Montana and we didn't have a house yet and so we stayed at the Friendship Inn in Kalispell. Haha, I will never forget that place. I know what it feels like to live in a motel, but I also know that the spirit of God can dwell wherever there is peace. And believe it or not, but this humble little room had such a strong spirit and I know it's because of how open the heart was of this sweet mother. She has such a desire to bring the gospel into her life and the life of her family.

The first time we taught her, I had a really neat experience- As I told her about the Restoration of the Gospel and about the Book of Mormon and how because of our Savior we can have an eternal family, the spirit just came over me and I just started crying because instantly I felt so much love for her. I knew that I was supposed to be there. I wouldn't say that "only I could have taught her," but I knew that the Lord had allowed me, silly little me, to be involved in this lady's conversion process. I felt so blessed, and I felt so grateful that God loved me enough to place me in her life at this time. There are no such things as coincidences, only divine signatures from our Heavenly Father. I know that she felt it as well because she was crying and she looked at me and said, "I don't know why I'm even crying, I just am." We then invited her for baptism, and she said YES! I am so so happy for her, and I pray that I will be here long enough to be able to see her be baptized and to be able to see her cute little family come together as one. How exciting, right?!!!

Another cool story- so I think I've told you about our one investigator who we've been meeting with for months. He's awesome! He knows the church is true, but his wife is very Catholic and isn't too happy with him coming to our church. He loves his wife so much, and he doesn't want to upset her or his family (which I can understand) but he knows that this is what he wants for his family. Sunday he came to the Christmas Devotional that was given by the First Presidency. At the very end of it when they sang Silent Night, he was crying. I knew that the spirit really touched his heart. And when it ended, he turned to us and said, "That was just amazing. Everything they did and said rang true with what I believe." He went on and on about how much he loved how well everything was presented and how he had never seen a "minister of God show so much emotion and love." Ha, when he said that I said, "Ya, isn't it nice to know that this man truly is called of God and that he extends his love to literally everyone." Ah man, it was just so cool, I was soooo glad he came. He told us that he was going to go home and tell his wife exactly how he felt while he watched it. Ha, I pray that she might have a desire to at least come to the Visitors Center and feel of the spirit that is so ever present there.

Besides those awesome stories, this week I've really been thinking a lot about how grateful I am for all those that I have been so blessed to serve around these past 6 months. (crazy, time is slipping through my fingers). I thought about how mad I was when I first got my call to the Visitors Center (you know me, stubborn as ever sometimes) but since being here, I couldn't have picked a better place for myself. The Lord really just knows me so much better than I know myself. I thought about how much I love my ward mission leader and his family and how they will always be my family too. Monday we went to their family home evening and got to listen to them sing "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet" in Samoan. Oh my goodness, I wanted to cry I just loved it sooo

Man, everyone, I hope you don't forget what Christmas is really about. Our Savior, and nothing else. He is the Prince of Peace and He is our Redeemer. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Christmas this year than to be on my mission and to be serving Him. There's just nothing greater, really there's not. I would invite all of you to go out of your way this Christmas to serve someone, and to pray for an opportunity to share the gospel with those that the Lord is preparing because they are truly out there, I promise. I love you, I love the Gospel, I love Missouri, I love my mission, and most importantly, I love my Savior, I know that He lives! This is His work!